


Should Have Known Sooner

by SkiaWolf



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Angst, Confession, Love Confessions, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, One-Sided Relationship, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-21 00:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9521834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkiaWolf/pseuds/SkiaWolf
Summary: “You should have told me,” Sorey said softly. “We've always been honest about everything.”“Not this. I'm your best friend, and I know I can't be anything more. Yet seeing that… It hurts so much. I feel angry at myself, at all of this. Maybe, just maybe, you could have fallen for me instead if I had told you. Or at least, I could have moved on. But now… Now I don't know if I can be happy again for a long time.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> I don't actually ship Alisha/Sorey at all, but I wanted to write some unrequited love angst, and... Sorry, my three wonderful babes. You're the victims.

He should have known sooner.

Mikleo should have made sure he had. Sorey had been clueless for more years that could be counted on a person's fingers. But he hadn't known.

And now? There was just pain. Heart-breaking pain which seemed to tear Mikleo apart physically and definitely did so mentally. It hurt so much that he thought he would drown, unable to experience the warmth of happiness again.

He had no one to blame for himself. Time after time again, he told himself that he should confess, let out everything which was on his mind. Even if it led him nowhere, at least it would have been closure. Sorey was kind-hearted and understanding. He would have definitely not treated his best friend any differently. So why? Why did Mikleo never say anything?

_He was scared._ Always had been and possibly always will be. There was that constant nagging voice in his mind, telling him that he should keep quiet, keep everything in even if it drove him insane.

_'You're childhood friends, and that's it. Tell him you're in love with him and that friendship could be gone. He might freak out over something like that. Just stay quiet.'_

But now, after listening to that voice in his mind, he regretted not taking one of the many chances he had over the years.

He had thought he would finally say something. His brain repeatedly went over what he could say, his lips mouthing the words silently as he stared down at his hands. He swallowed, heart pounding. Earlier, he had seen Sorey wander down to a lake nearby. And so, that's where Mikleo headed to.

He made is way past the trees silently, slowing when he heard voices. At the edge of the forestry, Mikleo stood behind one of the trees, focusing on his hearing.

“Has he seemed different to you lately, as well?”

“Not particularly, but he _is_ your best friend. You two have a connection not many of us have.”

Some of Mikleo's nerves seemed to vanish. Sorey was speaking to Alisha about him, in a voice which was etched in concern. Concern for _him._ It made him feel loved, even if that love wasn't the same.

“I really am jealous of a bond like that,” Alisha continued. “It's as thought you two know each other like the back of your hands. It's honestly beautiful, and how worried you are for him now really does show how much of an amazing person you are...”

Mikleo decided to step out from hiding in that moment, but he knew immediately he shouldn't have.

In slow motion, he watched as Alisha leaned over and placed a kiss on Sorey's lips. A natural, perhaps common kiss, suggested from the way that Sorey's hand was brought to her face. It was in that moment that Mikleo's heart shattered, years of regret washing over him like an uncontrollable storm.

Sorey broke away from Alisha and turned when the Seraph broke a twig stepping backwards, but by then, Mikleo was already running. But in his overwhelmed state with his body stumbling to the sides, it wasn't hard for Sorey to catch up to him.

“ _Mikleo!_ Mikleo, stop-”

Sorey grabbed onto Mikleo's arm, pulling him around to see his face. Sorey's eyes widened when he saw it was wet with tears.

“Mikleo-”

“It's fine, I should have known; I'll just go.”

“Please, tell me-”

“It's too late now. Just let me go, Sorey, I'm fine-”

“You're not fine, Mikleo, you're hysterical.”

“ _I'm not being hysterical!”_

But it was a lie. He clearly was. Body shaking as he tried, but failed, to pull out of Sorey's grasp; breathless sobs, a frantic voice as tears continued to fall.

“Then why are you crying? Is it because I hadn't told you yet?”

“Because… Because I...”

“Mikleo, please, tell me what's wrong.” Sorey tried to pull Mikleo into a hug, but he pushed Sorey's arms away. The hold which he had always adored would only cause him more despair. “Mikleo...”

“I've always loved you, Sorey,” Mikleo blurted out at long last. It should have felt like the world had been lifted up from his aching shoulders, but it didn't. Not in these circumstances. “I can't remember when it started, but I remember the moment I noticed. We were looking up at the stars, pointing out constellations. Suddenly, it was like those stars were in your eyes. Nothing was more beautiful than them. But I never said anything, and now look at me. Regretting it, blaming both of you when it's my fault.”

“You should have told me,” Sorey said softly. “We've always been honest about everything.”

“Not this. I'm your best friend, and I know I can't be anything more. Yet seeing that… It hurts so much. I feel angry at myself, at all of this. Maybe, just maybe, you could have fallen for me instead if I had told you. Or at least, I could have moved on. But now… Now I don't know if I can be happy again for a long time.”

“Mikleo-”

“I'm going for a walk,” he said, turning around. “I need… I need time to myself.”

“I don't want you to be alone when you're this hurt.”

Mikleo looked over his shoulder, a forced, painful smile on his face. “I've been alone for a long time already.”

Sorey didn't chase after him. He had no words to say, not to someone who wanted to be away from him. Though a minute later, he wish he had. He should have had least told Mikleo he had never been alone.

Even if Mikleo had never physically been alone, however, he had felt it. He was happy Sorey had finally met humans and made new friends, but at the same time, it hurt. He felt as though there was barely any room left in Sorey's heart for him.

Perhaps it was ridiculous. But he was an embodiment of anxiety, as pathetic as it made him feel to be so.

Now more than ever, he wished with every ounce of his being that Sorey had known sooner. Because now, the way this happened, he knew they might not ever be the same again, that he would live the rest of his life in regret.


End file.
